InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ From Demons to Dementors ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
Disclaimer- I own neither Inuyasha nor Harry Potter.
From Demons To Dementors
Kagome smiled gently as she watched Souta run around the shop wide-eyed. She set her bags down by the door and slowly ambled around the room. She had to buy some `normal' clothes if she wanted to go out in public with Souta, much to her distaste.
“So, Souta, what do you want to train with?” Kagome asked.
“Hmmm… There are so many kinds… how can I decide?” he murmured, slightly perplexed.
“What if I choose the wrong one; what if I'm no good?” Souta started to panic. Kagome just sighed in reply.
“Souta, sometimes, you act just like a little kid! All you have to do is close your eyes and feel out the chi of the weapon,” Kagome explained kindly, waving her hand over a pike. Souta's expression perked up, and he felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle. Kagome shook her head and began to mumble under her breath. She paused, as if listening, and soon began mumbling again.
“Defiantly not!” she exclaimed loudly.
“Huh?” he asked, completely dumfounded.
“That one is a crotchety old man who had a bit of a blood lust for small children. Certainly not good for you!” she appraised Souta's small stature critically.
“An old man? Children? What are you talking about?” Souta was quite startled by this assessment.
“The soul of weapons… The well made ones, that is, can take on a gender and a personality depending on the creator of the weapon and the wielder. It can also change due to the personality of a new owner… but I wouldn't try it if you are a beginner. Don't they teach you anything in school? What a waste of tax yen!” Kagome explained, bemused.
“Ah.” was all he said, still very bewildered.
“Now, you try,” she nudged him forward before he could ask another question. He nodded and approached a tall staff. He ran his hand over the warped, age-worn wood closed his eyes like Kagome had. He calmly tried to clear away all thoughts. In the distance he could hear his sister's voice guiding him.
“Now, send out your chi and search for the soul of the weapon,” her cool, crisp voice fluttered into his ears. Souta searched until he saw a large, dark blue jumble of chi. Could that be it?
“That's it. Now, speak to it, and ask if you might wield it,” she muttered.
`Talk to it? How do I do that?' he pondered almost absentmindedly.
“What do you want, mortal?” A deep, masculine voice echoed in his head.
`What was that!?'
“I am the spirit of this staff! I am called Shoushin Tekiya. Who are you? And what do you want with me, whelp?”
`Me? I-I'm Souta Higurashi and I'm learning how to send out my chi to different kinds of spirits,' Souta thought in reply. He was certain he heard a strange rumbling in his mind at his stutter.
“Heh! Don't make me laugh. Let me guess, you want me to be your weapon? Geheheh! I refuse to be partners with a young weakling like you! You're too delicate to even hold me up, let alone wield me correctly! I should kill you for even thinking such foolish thoughts!” Shoushin continued what Souta could now identify as laughter.
`Oi! I can too pick you up!' Souta cried angrily in his mind.
“Such an impudent brat! I think I will kill you, if only for your annoying voice!” Souta gulped. It seemed he had truly angered the old staff, without having any sort of defense to protect himself from its wrath. He had no idea what to do; he had never felt so much power in his life! It was as if his mind was being shredded and drowned in an ocean of pain. Then, as soon as it had come, it was gone. He glanced up, and saw a vivid pink light. As it dimmed, he saw the blue chi of the staff had weakened, and it was now cowering away from the monstrous amount of pink chi far greater than his own.
“Who…? W-what are you!?” Shoushin trembled before the pink chi's might.
`So powerful! It's like nothing I've felt before!' Souta whispered in awe.
`How dare you attack this youngling under my protection?' The voice emitted from the pink chi was soft, but held a hint of malice and was sharp with anger. Souta could tell it was feminine, but it couldn't be Kagome… could it?
`Kagome?' he inquired, just in case. But the pink chi which sounded so much like his sister ignored him and kept her focus on Shoushin Tekiya.
“M-my apologies, m-milady… I-I did not know… I couldn't know he…he was yours…I would never have…h-harmed him if…if I had know! P-please! Forgive m-me! I was out…o-out…of place! …J-just don't…k-kill me! I…b-beg of you!” The once powerful and arrogant voice of the staff stuttered and groveled.
`Hmmm… we shall go our separate ways, and I will overlook this transgression. Only if, of course, you tell all of your little friends to behave themselves for my little brother, agreed?' she asked in a sickly sweet voice of poisoned honey. Souta mentally kicked himself for doubting that it was Kagome, but he could not believe how powerful she had become.
`Do you accept my proposal… or not?' she murmured threateningly.
“Y-yes, milady! …o-of course …many thanks, milady…I will never forget your benevolence!” Shoushin's voice was distinctly relieved now.
The pink chi was silent, but Souta had a feeling that she was smiling. Souta felt his own chi being drawn back into his body and leaving the space before the staff. He opened his eyes and blinked, greeted by the sight Kagome leaning worriedly over him.
“You are alright, Souta?” she fretted, patting his cheek.
“Yeah… I think so.” He still couldn't believe that the whole thing had taken place in this dingy old weapon store.
“Wow,” was all he could say.
“Do you wish to return home yet? The first time can always be a bit strenuous, and I believe you began with a more difficult one,” Kagome murmured worriedly.
“No! …No, I'm fine, but what the hell happened!? How the hell did you do that!? I had no idea you were so powerful!!” Kagome sweat dropped at Souta's overflowing enthusiasm.
“You merely pissed off a decrepit old fool of a staff, nothing too big happened. And I'm not really as strong as you think; my miko powers are more effective than anything else against demons and spirits, so naturally I was quite capable of overwhelming that weak little staff!” Kagome's eyes began a dull gray as she stared at a spot just above Souta's head.
How many more lies must I spout? How much longer until he finds out? How much longer until he hates me?
“We should depart this place for today, Souta. You may not feel weary, but your exhaustion will catch up to you in due time,” Kagome gazed at the exit with thinly veiled longing.
“I'm fine!” he huffed, “I still want to get a weapon today!” he picked himself up off the floor and strode over to a dark blue sword with a silver tiger on its sheath.
“How about this one, `Gome?” he asked, pointing to it. Kagome tore her eyes away from the exit to smile and nod at him. He quickly went to work and began sending his chi into it like he had been taught. As a precaution, Kagome sent out a small amount of her chi to see if it was safe as he began. Sensing a more peaceful aura than the last, she continued to smile and sat down, watching as Souta practiced on some of the weaker auras. She ran her fingers down the sheaths of her swords that she had spelled to stay hidden at her sides.
`What do you make of all this?' she projected to them. She heard the rumbling that she had come to recognized as “Spirit laughter.”
“The youngling is very brave, I'll give him that. He reminds me of a certain someone else at that age” a soft, feminine voice chuckled.
“Well of course he is; they do share the same blood!” an impatient masculine voice snapped back.
“Every thing is about blood to you, isn't it?” the first voice resounded angrily in Kagome's head.
“What else is there?” the second voice laughed almost tauntingly.
Kagome frowned. She was surprisingly accustomed to this sort of thing. The voices in her head. Most people would think she was crazy if she were to tell them about the voices, therefore, she told no one. Not even Sesshoumaru. Not this. It was one of the few secrets that she would take to her grave. Whenever that would be.
She sighed. The masculine voice usually got worse when she was asleep. If it were not for the feminine voice, whispering back words to bring her back to earth, she would have gone insane years ago. She was well aware of the identities of her voices, but she refused to think about them. Doing so would just bring back painful memories.
Kagome stroked her swords. They were a silent symbol of reality; they where often the only things that brought her back from her mental conversations.
Kagome smiled. She loved her swords. Their auras were so different, but when the time came to protect her, they were yin and yang, two sides of the same coin. Zetsumei had the spirit similar to that of an old wise woman. She had been abandoned in the depths of the Western Fortress, but Sesshoumaru had retrieved it and had convinced Totosai to hone it for her. Afterwards, Zetsumei had pledged her allegiance to Kagome; that she would protect Kagome at all costs. She was also strict and matronly, like Kagome's deceased grandmother.
Itazuki was an arrogant, witty, and perverted soul. He was always joking about anything and everything. In many ways, he was much like a child, but, just like Zetsumei, if it came down to Kagome's protection he would be deadly serious. He had been given to her by her friends. When Inuyasha had brought it back to the village, Sango honed it for her with her demon slayer skills, and Miroku and Kaede put charms and spells on them. (You see how he had become perverted. (-_-)) Even little Shippo had helped by putting illusion spells on them.
They were her pride and joy, and she loved them as if they were her friends from the past. She treated them like partners, and not like weapons or tools. That is why they got along so well; the swords did not see her as a master, but rather, a good friend. They, like her feudal companions merely saw it as their duty to protect her from any and all danger.
The only problem was that the voices in her head blocked the vocal auras of her swords. She could no longer communicate to them with words, and not talking to her spirit friends had made her sad, but after many years, she had learned to communicate through auras alone. Now, the only voices in her head were the sinister male and the calculating female.
“Reminiscing in memories will do you no good,” the feminine voice scolded.
“Although I am pleased that it was about me,” taunted the male's voice. Kagome sighed.
“You do that too much for your health,” they sad in unison. She only chuckled.
“You should laugh more,” the woman's voice sniffed haughtily, “Laughter is medicine for the soul, and you certainly need more of it,” she added.
“That and getting laid. You could use that too.” Kagome could just imagine the smirk on his face.
`I thought I had suppressed you,' Kagome groaned.
“You could never suppress me, my beautiful, disgusting tama,” he chuckled as Kagome flinched.
“I'm sorry to say that he is right, Kagome. No matter how powerful you become, you will never be rid of us. I'm sorry,” the womanly voice spoke softly, suddenly sorrowful.
`I know,' Kagome whispered back.
“So sorry to interrupt this happy moment, but I believe your brother has finished fooling around,” the masculine voice growled, annoyed at their parallel feelings.
Kagome cracked open her eyes and glanced up at Souta in front of her. He looked lost and confused, for some reason. She rose and eyebrow in question.
“I don't know which weapon I should choose,” he sulked. Kagome contemplated for a moment, and expanded her aura slightly. A few seconds later, the old monk who ran the shop came shuffling out of the back room.
“You called, Miko-sama?” he questioned.
“Yes. I was wondering if your lineage had passed down anything that might be of use to us?” Kagome raised her other brow, hinting at something that Souta didn't understand.
“Hmmm… give me a moment to think…” the old man turned around and began digging behind the counter, mumbling to himself.
“Ah! I knew this would become useful someday!” the old man pulled out a dusty, worn old box. Kagome stood up and approached the counter.
“My. This is old; I'm impressed!” she exclaimed softly. The old man nodded his head.
“May I…?” she asked, staring pointedly at the box.
“Of course! You needn't even ask, Miko-sama. It's as much yours as it is mine,” the old man carefully handed her the box.
Souta stood behind her and watched curiously as she lightly touched the sutras in a loving manner and sighed as they curled up and burned under her fingers. Once they had all disintegrated, she removed the lid.
“Ah…” she murmured softly, deftly running her fingers over the object inside.
“This, Souta, is what you shall be trained with,” Kagome lifted the weapon out of the box and let the weight settle in her hands.
“What is it?” he asked as he watched his sister re-familiarize herself with the old weapon.
“This is…was… Kohaku's Kusarigama. It is now yours.” Kagome let the chain wrap around her hand and she expertly swung it around a few times, managing to not hit even a single weapon in the cramped store.
“You are fortunate it is in such fine shape. Not many things this old would last so well,” Kagome said, more to herself than to Souta. The old monk nodded again rather sorrowfully.
“Normally, this one would not be for sale, but since I know it's in good hands, I think I'll make an exception,” the monk winked conspiringly at Kagome. Kagome bowed in return, making him blush.
“My thanks, Hoshi-san. We will indeed take this.” Kagome delicately replaced the scythe back in its box and shut the lid.
“Anything for an old family friend.” The old man smiled, bowed and returned to his back room, ecstatic that he had been the one to finally meet the priestess of legends. The Miko his ancestors had befriended. The one who had indirectly caused his birth. His wife was going to be so proud!